The Effects of an Intervention Package on Student Teachers' Facilitation of Communication

Abstract

Students exhibiting language delays may become dependent on others for initiating communication. Unfortunately, some environments do not adequately support communication development because caregivers preempt opportunities. The purpose of this investigation was to measure the effects of staff development training components on student teachers' facilitation of communication with students exhibiting severe communication delays. Four student teachers were trained to use environmental arrangement strategies and delayed prompts with target students in their practica placement. Training components included a presentation, a videotaped demonstration, simulated practice and feedback. A form of expert coaching that included mutually preplanning teaching occasions was implemented. A multiple-probe design across student teachers was implemented to evaluate the effects of the training components on student teachers' use of the intervention procedures. The use of planned and generalized teaching occasions were measured using obtrusive and unobtrusive probes. The results of the study indicated that the training promoted the acquisition, generalization and maintenance of the environmental arrangement strategies and delayed prompting.